Johannesburg - The leader of the EFF, Julius Malema, has urged the leaders of BRICS to boycott the BRICS summit expected to kick off next month in solidarity with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will not be attending.
This comes after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant of arrest for the Russian President, who last week was forced to withdraw his attendance at the Brics Summit in South Africa next month.
Putin's visit to South Africa has been the source of legal and diplomatic dilemmas for South Africa due to the warrant of arrest against him.
On Saturday, during the party’s 10th anniversary at Soccer City Stadium, Malema called on the remaining BRICS leaders to also skip the August 22–24 Summit in a show of support for Putin.
“We call on the presidents of the People's Republic of China, India, and Brazil not to come to the BRICS Summit in solidarity with President Putin,” Malema said.
“We called for BRICS heads of state to stay away in solidarity with President Putin because today is President Putin; tomorrow it will be the Chinese President, the Indian President, or even the President of Brazil. So, in solidarity with President Putin, they must send their minister and say we are not coming, because the establishment of BRICS was to create an alternative platform to avoid this type of nonsensical arrangement. Russia is not a signatory to the ICC. And why would South Africa want to arrest people who are not signatories to the ICC?” he said.
Malema also slammed the United States for “threatening” South Africa by demanding it turn against the Russian leader in exchange for remaining part of the landmark African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa), which grants duty-free access for most exports.
“They can take away Agoa and leave us with our sovereignty,” Malema said during his keynote address, attended by more than 90 000 EFF members.
Malema also criticised the ruling party, which he accused of corruption and failure to effectively rule South Africa after more than 28 years of democracy. He said should the EFF assume power in the elections next year, he would arrest President Cyril Ramaphosa for the Phala Phala farm matter.
He also accused the ANC of being a corrupt organisation that has allowed lawlessness to rule since the advent of democracy in 1994. Malema also promised to oust the ANC in the country’s 2024 general election.
In March, the EFF organised a national protest in a bid to force Ramaphosa to step down over his handling of the country's sickly economy and crippling energy crisis.
The Star